Five Roo Royalty candidates performed dance routines or lip-synced to Nickelodeon theme songs at the UMKC Court Warming event, Yell Like Hell, on Feb. 9 in the Student Union Theater.
The competition was judged by Chelsie Duckworth, the senior program coordinator of the Women’s Center and Roland Hemmings, the assistant director of Multicultural Student Affairs.
Duckworth said that there were a few main criteria the performers were judged on, like creativity, energy, staying on theme, spirit and execution.
Junior Ciara Kane, the candidate for Delta Zeta, won first place. Kane’s performance involved props like binoculars and a blow-up guitar. She danced to a compilation of Nickelodeon songs with backup dancers.
“I was a Nick[elodeon] kid through and through,” Kane said. “I started by brainstorming which shows were my favorites and trying to find the theme songs that were most relatable to our generation.”
Kane said she used iMovie to put together the theme songs. She started with the theme song of “The Backyardigans,” followed by music from “Big Time Rush” “Drake & Josh” and “George Lopez.”
Duckworth said that as the performances are all very different, it was difficult to choose a winner. However, she felt that Kane’s winning routine connected best with the Nickelodeon theme.
“For me, it comes down to execution and following the theme,” Duckworth said. “The winners really stuck to the theme. They did a really on-point routine.”
Kane felt that two things made this win so special. The first was the memories the group made while preparing for their performance.
“The biggest reason it made me so happy was because we had so much fun making the dance and performing it,” Kane said. “We made so many memories just coming up with ideas. The day of Yell Like Hell we spent the whole day together making shirts and practicing.”
Beyond that, winning was exciting for Kane because she has participated in Yell Like Hell for the past three years, and this was the first time she saw Delta Zeta win.
